Vice President Dick Cheney exerted "constant" pressure on Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., then-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, to delay a report on the White House’s alleged misuse of intelligence to justify the invasion of Iraq, claims the new chairman, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.
Staff members of Cheney and Roberts are denying Rockefeller’s account. Roberts’ people blamed the delays on Democrats who kept expanding the scope of the investigation. The vice president’s spokeswoman called Roberts a "good chairman" of the committee.
But does "good" for Cheney in this case mean "compliant"?
And given what we know about Cheney’s hardball politics, is it that hard to imagine him pressuring Roberts? The bottom line: The country never got the promised and long-delayed report during Roberts’ watch.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Sedgwick County Commissioner Gwen Welshimer recently said that local citizens are "sick of consultants." I think she’s right. But how many consultants are too many? I try to answer that question in my column today, by "hiring" a consultant.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Maybe Vice President Dick Cheney is trying to be the bad cop to President Bush’s good one. Or maybe he’s not been watching the same news as the rest of us.
How else can you explain Cheney’s combative tone Wednesday, when he cited “enormous successes” in Iraq and vowed that congressional opposition “won’t stop us” from sending more troops to Iraq?
Cheney, perhaps testy after a clash between his wife, Lynne, and CNN interviewer Wolf Blitzer last fall, also dismissed Blitzer’s reference to U.S. mistakes in Iraq as “hogwash.”
Quite a contrast from the somewhat chastened tone Bush has struck in recent weeks.
Posted by Dave Knadler
A couple of news stories this week that some will probably claim are part of the liberal media’s agenda to promote homosexuality and undermine fatherhood: An Oregon scientist has been taking undeserved heat for his research on why about 8 percent of rams seek sex exclusively with other rams instead of ewes, the New York Times reported. And a Komodo dragon in England had five babies (see photo) even though a male has never been near her — the first documented virgin birth by a Komodo. What’s next, a story about dogs and cats living together?
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Kansans may be having trouble reconciling Sen. Sam Brownback’s criticism of the troop surge plan with his lack of support for a Senate resolution opposing the surge. Speaking to reporters Thursday, he clarified his stand somewhat: “I think what we ought to be discussing now as these resolutions move forward is what we should support, not what we’re opposed to, and what we can pull together on, not what we’re divided on.” That means he might support a less partisan resolution drafted by Sen. John Warner, R-Va.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Two Wichita state senators raised some serious concerns about the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services during the confirmation hearing of Don Jordan as SRS secretary, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported. Republican Jean Schodorf (pictured) said she was concerned with employee burnout due to high caseloads and with patients falling through the cracks. “We’ve all heard the stories of someone being put off for months and months until something terrible happens,” she said. Democrat Donald Betts said that after hearing complaints from constituents frustrated with an SRS office, he personally visited the agency. “I was treated like a second-class citizen until they found out who I was,” Betts said. Jordan responded that it was his goal for staff members to treat one another and the people they encountered with respect. “I want to focus on doing the job right,” he said.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
